Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar said Wednesday the government expects an economic contraction this year of 2 percent â¿¿ double its earlier prediction. It will be Portugal's third straight year of recession as austerity measures including steep tax hikes and welfare cuts are blamed for a crunch on spending and investment, as well as an unemployment rate that has hit a record 16.9 percent.

Portugal needed a â¿¬78 billion bailout in 2011 when a decade of average growth below 1 percent and mounting debts pushed it close to bankruptcy. Investor faith in Portugal has returned in recent months â¿¿ a trend reflected in falling interest rates on its debt â¿¿ as the European Central Bank has indicated it is willing to help eurozone countries that, like Portugal, are abiding by debt-reduction programs. Portugal hopes to be able to finance itself without help by the end of the year.

In the third quarter of last year, the latest figure available, the deficit stood at 3.2 percent of annual GDP. In 2010, it was 10.1 percent.

Given Portugal's recent record on slashing debt, Gaspar told a parliamentary committee hearing it was "reasonable" to expect that its bailout lenders â¿¿ the so-called troika of the ECB, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund â¿¿ will grant Portugal an extra year to meet its debt targets.

He did not elaborate but Portugal is currently aiming for a deficit of 2.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2014.

A longer time span to reduce the deficit would potentially allow the government time to ease off on its contested cuts and tax hikes.